I have always felt so happy and safe living in Massachusetts. There is almost no chance of any bad guys using guns because guns are so hard to get here. Only law abiding citizens with a stellar goodness record who submit fingerprints, forms, and money are allowed to have guns. Lawmakers who are a lot smarter than I am have come up with laws to protect us from gun violence. And they continue to spend more and more of my money every year keeping up the good work. But then I heard about the case below. It seems that someone committed an unlawful act with a gun! How can that be? He must have "went off the deep end" or something. So, I figured it would be easy to figure out who it is. Just ask all the licensed gun owners that live in the area where they were and what they were doing at the time. Also, ask to see their guns, and check to see if they were fired recently. Easy, right? That's what gun and gun owner registration is for, right? In those rare cases where a gun crime occurs, it makes it easy to catch the bad guy. But then I saw the actual article below. It looks like the police weren't able to utilize all that licensing and registration information that I have paid for and participated in. They are asking the public for information. Wow, this is a really strange situation. I'll tell myself that it's such a rare case, that it's not likely to happen again.
Maybe the girl and her family should move to a nicer neighborhood, like Wellseley or Concord. Oh I forgot, not everyone can afford to live in those places.
All sarcasm aside, I hope the girl survives with minimal permanent damage. I hope the cops catch up with the shooter(s) and lock him/her/them up for a very long time.
From http://www.boston.com/news/daily/30/girl_shot.htm
Police seeking help finding gunman who shot ten-year-old girl
By Associated Press, 06/30/02
BOSTON -- Police asked the public for help Sunday in finding the person who shot a 10-year-old girl in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood.
Trina Persad of Dorchester was leaving Quincy Park with her aunt and two sisters at about 7:45 p.m. Saturday when a car drove by and someone fired several rounds at the park, police said.
One round hit Trina in the head. She was taken to Boston Medical Center, where's she was listed in critical condition on Sunday.
Police searched the park and interviewed witnesses, but no arrests have been made.

And, according to Mayor 'Mumbles' Menino, the rise in crime is due to the release of convicts from prisons to relieve overcrowding. These ex-convicts are returning to the streets and taking up where they left off.
But we all know that can't be true because if they are ex-con's they can't have guns, as it is illegal, and all ex-con's have learned their lessons and aren't about to break the law again. I assume that new gun control laws must now be enacted. [;)]

This must have happened because of the widespread availability of assault weapons at gun shows. It's time that a law is made prohibitting the sale of assault weapons at gun shows. That gun show loophole (you know the one where all gun laws are suspended at gun shows) needs to be closed.

From http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/183/metro/Removed_from_life_support_10_year_old_gun_victim_dies+.shtml
Removed from life support, 10-year-old gun victim dies
By Michael S. Rosenwald, Globe Staff , and Emily Ramshaw Globe Correspondent, 7/2/2002
With her family surrounding her hospital bed, the 10-year-old Dorchester girl wounded in a drive-by shooting Saturday evening was taken off life support last night and pronounced dead a few minutes later, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Trina Persad died at 10:30 p.m. She is the city's 26th homicide victim of 2002.
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Read the entire article at www.boston.com